ULTIMATE GUIDE: The Daily Dig’s Ultimate Guide To Getting Permissions In The UK

If you have not got permission, you are not a detectorist. You are a trespasser with a very incriminating hobby. The Daily Dig is many things, but we are not the PR department for nighthawkers, chancers, or “I thought it was fine because the gate was open”.

This is the no-excuses, grown-up, Ultimate Guide to getting proper metal detecting permissions in the UK: the kind that stand up when a farmer changes their mind, a FLO asks questions, or someone turns up in uniform and starts a sentence with “Sir, can you just explain…”.

THE GOLDEN RULES – PERMISSION, PROTECTION, REPORTING
Every bit of land in the UK belongs to someone. That rough patch by the bypass? Owned. That pretty stubble field you drive past and whisper “hammered” at? Owned.

The game is simple: you need permission from the legal owner or occupier before you even think about swinging a coil. On top of that, some places are essentially radioactive: Scheduled Monuments, certain protected nature sites, and land under specific schemes where ground disturbance is tightly controlled.

You cannot “permission” your way past some of those – even if a landowner says yes, the law still says no. Then there is reporting. In England and Wales, Treasure has to be reported, and anything historically interesting really ought to go through PAS. In Scotland, anything of archaeological interest goes through Treasure Trove.

Northern Ireland has its own quirks, but the principle is the same: the hobby includes paperwork. The simple formula: Permission from the right person. Protection of the wrong sites. Reporting of the right finds.

WHERE YOU ACTUALLY HAVE A CHANCE
Let’s be blunt. Your best realistic hunting ground for permissions is still private farmland. Arable, pasture, mixed farms – the places where people have lived, worked, lost things and buried wealth for over a thousand years. That is your A-list.

Private woodland comes next. Not the big branded forests with visitor centres and ranger jeeps, but local woods owned by estates or individuals.

Then you have: local paddocks and smallholdings (often yes if you build trust), some privately-run estates with sensible land agents, and very occasionally a village green or similar if the ownership is clear and the committee has not already been traumatised by detectorists.

The harder stuff: council parks and playing fields (policies vary; many are a flat “no”), National Trust land (assume no), MOD land (forget it), and anything blatantly archaeological (earthworks, barrows, obvious ruins) which usually comes with legal protection and a guaranteed headache. If your strategy is “I will just go until someone shouts at me”, you do not have a strategy; you have a future court date.

HOW TO FIND OUT WHO OWNS THE DREAM FIELD
You have seen the field. Perfect lines, subtle humps, an old track on the map. You can practically hear the Saxons. Now you have to swap daydreams for data.

Options: you can use the Land Registry (England and Wales) to identify owners of specific parcels by map; boring but precise and costs a few quid.

You can go old school: find the farmhouse with tractors going in and out of those fields all day and knock on the door.

You can ask the village: the pub, the parish busybody, the agricultural merchants, the local detecting club.

Half the UK’s landownership is stored in the phrase “Ask Dave, he’s the one with the big green tractor.” For parks, playing fields and recreation grounds, the district, borough or parish council is usually the manager – their website may already spell out the metal detecting policy.

For big rural estates, you may have to go via a land agent or rural surveyor; these people think in tenancies, schemes and risk, so talking sensibly about respect for stewardship and no-nighthawking immediately sets you apart from the average punter.

The point: do not guess. Work out exactly who owns or controls the land, then ask that person. Anything else is fantasy.

HOW TO BECOME “PERMISSION-WORTHY”
From your point of view, you are a responsible hobbyist historian with a magic wand. From a farmer’s point of view, until proven otherwise, you are a potential problem: holes, gates left open, spooked stock, damage to crops or stewardship, strange men in camo appearing in fields at dawn.

You need to become the opposite of that – a quiet asset. That means: you are insured and ideally a member of a recognised body (NCMD or similar) that provides public liability cover and a clear code of conduct. You actually know the Code of Practice for Responsible Metal Detecting and follow it: permission, protect sites, careful digging, good recording.

You understand reporting obligations where you live: Treasure Act and PAS in England/Wales, Treasure Trove in Scotland, local rules in NI.

You can explain, calmly and clearly, what happens if you find something important. And you behave on the land like someone who wants to be invited back: every hole neatly filled, no scrap left in the field, no wandering through standing crops “because it’s only one signal”, no walking through livestock without explicit permission.

If you cannot confidently explain how you dig, what you record, how you split finds and how you report, you are not ready for the permission conversation. Fix that first.

THE ART OF ASKING – GATE, NOT FACEBOOK
Most real permissions are won at farm gates, not in Facebook groups. Email and messages have their place, but nothing beats a calm, polite, face-to-face conversation.

Timing matters: do not turn up at milking, in the middle of harvest, or when someone is halfway inside a combine harvester with a spanner. Early evenings in quieter seasons tend to be best.

Appearance matters: you do not need head-to-toe camo, a GoPro on your forehead and a rucksack that screams “trespassing enthusiast”. Turn up looking like a normal, sensible human. Tone matters most of all: you are not selling, not begging, not entitled.

You are asking whether they would be open to considering it, and you are perfectly fine if the answer is no. Something like: “Hi, I’m [Name], I live in [nearest town/village]. I’m a responsible metal detectorist – insured, and I follow the official Code of Practice. I’m very interested in the history around here and wondered if you ever allow detecting on your land.

If you were open to it, I’d only go where and when you’re happy, I always fill in my holes properly, avoid crops and livestock, and I’d share anything interesting with you and make sure anything important is reported properly.

Totally fine if the answer is no – but I wanted to ask you directly rather than just assume.” Then you stop talking and let them think.

No pressure, no guilt-tripping. A well-handled “no” today can become a “maybe” later; a badly handled “no” becomes “never” and “tell my neighbours to avoid that bloke”.

WHY WRITTEN PERMISSION IS NON-NEGOTIABLE
Verbal permission is where you start. Written permission is where you stop arguments before they begin. You do not need fanfare and lawyers; a one-page agreement or clear email trail is enough as long as it is specific.

You want: who is involved (names and contact details for you and the landowner); where you can detect (which fields, which areas, ideally with a simple map or description so “the back field” is not ambiguous); when you can detect (only after harvest, not during lambing, not if it is waterlogged, etc.); how finds are handled (common approach is 50/50 on value after any formal process, but you can agree whatever you both think is fair – the key is that you both understand it); how you will handle reporting (who informs PAS or Treasure Trove, how you will keep the landowner updated); and any special rules (no detecting near obvious archaeology, no extra people without asking, no detecting while stock are in a specific field).

You can absolutely use template permission/search agreements as a starting point, then strip the language down so it reads like something a normal person would sign, not a tax return. If you ever end up with questions about a find, that piece of paper or email is worth more to you than the coin.

THE TRUE NO-GO ZONES (EVEN WITH “PERMISSION”)
Some places are effectively off limits no matter what a landowner says. Scheduled Monuments are top of the list. Using a detector on one without formal consent, or removing objects found with a detector, is an offence. “But the farmer said I could” will not help.

Learn to recognise scheduled areas on maps and apps and treat them like a live minefield. Protected nature sites such as SSSIs often come with strict rules around ground disturbance. The landowner can get themselves into serious trouble if they allow activities that breach those rules – and you can help them breach them spectacularly with a shovel.

Land under certain stewardship and conservation schemes may prohibit or restrict detecting and digging; ignoring that could cost the farmer real money. So when a landowner says “not that field”, your only answer is “no problem”. Finally, anything that smells of secrecy is poison. If your “permission” includes phrases like “come at night so no one sees you” or “if anyone asks, say you’re just walking the dog”, you are being recruited as a nighthawker with plausible deniability. Walk away.

ENGLAND, WALES, SCOTLAND, NORTHERN IRELAND – SAME HOBBY, DIFFERENT FLAVOURS
The basics do not change: you always need permission from the landowner or legal occupier. But the legal flavour does.

In England and Wales, you must avoid Scheduled Monuments without consent, you are expected to behave in line with the Code of Practice for Responsible Metal Detecting, and you have legal duties under the Treasure Act to report qualifying finds. PAS is the main route for recording non-Treasure archaeological material.

In Scotland, you still need landowner permission, including for parks, but the big difference is Treasure Trove: anything of archaeological significance belongs to the Crown and must be reported. Rewards are decided by the authorities, not by back-of-an-envelope agreements. Using a detector on certain protected sites without consent is also an offence.

Northern Ireland overlays the usual permission rules with additional heritage protections and licensing around some sites and “areas of archaeological importance”.

Translation: do your homework, and never assume “England rules” apply everywhere just because the weather is equally bad.

TURNING ONE PERMISSION INTO A NETWORK
The secret to building multiple permissions is not charm. It is consistency. If you look after one permission properly, the landowner will do your marketing for you. They talk. Over markets, over fences, over pints. You want to be the detectorist whose name comes up with “very tidy, very respectful, no trouble”.

That means: communicate occasionally, not obsessively. A simple message now and then with a couple of photos and a note like “Found this in the top field, reported to PAS, will keep you posted” goes a long way. Respect boundaries religiously: if they say “not until after the crop”, you wait; if they say “never in that field”, you never step into that field. Treat the land like it is loaned to you, not given.

Leave no scars: plugs neat, soil replaced, no scrap left behind; they should not be able to tell where you have been after you are gone. And be their eyes: if you spot suspicious vehicle tracks, strange holes or signs of nighthawking, tell them.

Being clearly anti-nighthawking is not just morally right; it builds trust and shows you are on their side, not just out for yourself. Give it a few seasons of that and when their neighbour says “I’ve had someone asking about detecting, any thoughts?” you want your landowner to say “If they’re anything like [Your Name], say yes.”

THE DAILY DIG PERMISSION CHECKLIST
Before you step into any field with a detector, ask yourself, brutally:

Do I know exactly who owns or controls this land?
Do I have clear, current permission from that person or body, not just “a mate said it was fine”?
Do we have a shared understanding of what happens with finds, reporting and any potential rewards?
Am I sure this is not a Scheduled Monument, protected nature site, or restricted stewardship field?
Am I insured, do I follow the relevant Code of Practice, and am I prepared to report anything significant properly?
Am I ready to walk away if I cannot answer “yes” to all of that? If the answer to any of those is “no”, you are not ready to dig.

The field will still be there when you are. History has waited centuries; it can wait until you have your permissions sorted. That is the Daily Dig way: ask properly, dig neatly, record honestly, and leave every field – and every landowner relationship – better than you found it.

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